Neuropsychological rehabilitation after brain injury: Scientific and professional issues

Neuropsychological rehabilitation after acquired brain injury is an important contribution to our health-care system. Despite a growing database which supports its clinical utility, the insurance coverage for this form of care is now being threatened. This paper addresses some of the professional and scientific issues that psychologists need to face in order to continue to provide these services.Invited Address, President's Mini-Convention To Your Health: Psychology Through the Life Span, American Psychological Association Convention, New York, August 12, 1995.     

Utility of computerized case simulations in therapist training and evaluation

The present quasi-experimental study attempted to evaluate the utility of a set of three computer simulations for therapist training and evaluation by comparing psychology students from two universities at three training levels. The three groups consisted of junior and senior level undergraduates, first year graduate students, and third or fourth year graduate students. Analysis of outcome measures indicated subjects were generally accepting of computer simulation use for therapist training and evaluation and performance differences between the groups could be explained by group population differences. The results are discussed relative to the utility for computer simulations use for therapist training and evaluation.     

Religion and Science in America: Populism versus Elitism

Historian James Gilbert argues that the dialogue between science and religion is an important dynamic in the creation of contemporary American culture. He traces the dialogue not only in the confines of the academic world but also in popular culture. The science-religion dialogue reveals a basic tension between the material and the spiritual that helps define the core of the American psyche: fascination with material progress yet commitment to traditional religious beliefs. Gilbert's cultural narrative traces the dialogue in a unique way because of the attention given to popular renditions of science and religion in evangelical films used by the military, in televised science programs, in science-fiction literature, and at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962. Gilbert suggests that the discussion between science and religion is significant because it is part of the process of creating new cultural structures necessitated by social, scientific, and technological developments. The tensions between religiously informed commonsense science and professional science work to create new cultural forms in a democratic society. Religion and science in dialogue are part of the process of cultural creation. Dogmatism on the part of either scientists or religionists is countered by the democratic process itself.     

Short‐term psychodynamic infant–parent interventions at Child health centers: Outcomes on parental depression and infant social–emotional functioning

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrate efficacy of parent–infant psychotherapy, but its applicability and effectiveness in public health care are less known. The method followed is Naturalistic study evaluating Short‐term Psychodynamic Infant–Parent Interventions at Child Health Centers (SPIPIC) in Stockholm, Sweden. One hundred distressed mothers with infants were recruited by supervised nurses. Six therapists provided 4.3 therapy sessions on average (SD = 3.3). Sessions typically included the mothers, often with the baby present, while fathers rarely attended sessions. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social–Emotional (ASQ: SE) were distributed at baseline and at 3 and 9 months later. Data from a nonclinical group were collected simultaneously to provide norm data. Multilevel growth models on the mothers’ questionnaire scores showed significant decreases over time on both measures. Nine months after baseline, 50% achieved a reliable change on the EPDS and 14% on the ASQ: SE. Prepost effect‐sizes (d) were 0.70 and 0.40 for EPDS and ASQ: SE, figures that are comparable to results of other controlled studies. Psychotherapists integrated with public health care seem to achieve good results when supporting distressed mothers with brief interventions in the postnatal period. SPIPIC needs to be compared with other modalities and organizational frameworks.     

师生关系对研究生自我效能感的影响:有调节的中介模型

为探讨师生关系与自我效能感的关系,并着力考察专业认同和导师负面评价恐惧在其中所起的作用,采用一般自我效能感量表、研究生师生关系感知问卷、专业认同量表、害怕导师负面评价量表对458名研究生进行调查,结果发现：（1）师生关系可正向预测研究生自我效能感;专业认同在两者间起中介作用;（2）导师负面评价恐惧在师生关系通过专业认同影响自我效能感的中介模型后半段起调节作用,即对于导师负面评价恐惧较高的研究生来说,专业认同对其自我效能感的影响更大。研究结果揭示了师生关系对自我效能感的作用机制。     

大学校长胜任力与职业认同的关系:基于潜在剖面分析

基于个体中心的视角考察大学校长胜任力和职业认同的关系,采用大学校长胜任力量表和职业认同量表对262名大学校长进行问卷调查。运用潜在剖面分析方法进行数据分析,结果表明:(1)大学校长胜任力可以分为四种潜在类别:低胜任力组、中胜任力组、高特质低能力组,高胜任力组,其中,中胜任组人数最多,高特质低能力组人数最少;(2)大学校长的职业认同得分在这四种潜在类别上有显著差异,中胜任力组、高胜任力组的大学校长职业认同得分显著高于高特质低能力组和低胜任力组,低胜任力组的大学校长职业认同显著于高于高特质低能力组。     

On the Concept of Fair Competition Prevalent in Today’s European Soccer Leagues

The notion of competition depicted in sport literature appears to be inconsistent with the goals of current European soccer competitions. This paper examines two misconceptions of fair competition which are prevalent in these competitions. First, it aims at refuting the view that professional soccer only requires some basic equality of chances beyond the differences in players’ skills and managers’ knowledge of game strategy. In other words, it refutes the view that professional soccer only demands a notion of fair competition understood as fair play. Second, the paper also aims at refuting the view that fair competition, in professional soccer, is simply a matter of financial viability. Hence, it calls for both genuine legal and ethical reforms, since professional soccer competition requires a notion of equality as both a goal and a right. Such a notion, we argue, must conceive of the differences in players’ skills and managers’ knowledge of game strategy as one of the primary factors in establishing a platform founded in fair competition. Therefore, this paper calls for a radical change of attitude toward or a radical approach to fair competition among European sport fans, policy-makers, and administrators.     

The Impact of Specific Psychotherapist Beliefs Regarding Managed Care on Prospective Psychotherapy Clients

The purpose of this study was to investigate the separate impact of each of thirteen therapist beliefs that, presented collectively, were previously found to have a significantly negative impact on prospective clients' attitudes toward managed care psychotherapy (Pomerantz, 2000). Participants in this study initially completed a brief questionnaire measuring their willingness to enter psychotherapy and their expectations regarding psychotherapy under managed care. Participants subsequently completed the same brief questionnaire again after being instructed to imagine seeing a hypothetical psychologist and being presented with the psychologist's supposed beliefs regarding managed care (which were actually derived from survey data by Murphy et al., 1998). Results suggest that almost every discrete therapist belief had a significantly negative impact on participants' attitudes toward managed care psychotherapy. Several specific therapist beliefs produced particularly salient negative effects. Implications regarding ethics and informed consent are discussed.